Artisan Group of Countertop Fabricators Inducts 2 New Board Members

Artisan Group, a network of stone fabricators in North America, inducted two new board members: Fadi Halabi, owner of Duracite in Fairfield, Calif., and Tom Rocks, owner of Rocksolid Stone Works in Cleveland, Ohio. Halabi and Rocks are taking the slots vacated by members, Mitch Hires, owner of Construction Resources in Atlanta, Ga., and Gus Blume, owner of Blume’s Solid Surfaces in Pittsburgh, Pa., after serving their two-year terms. Halabi and Rocks join Brad Pearce, owner of Front Range Stone in Denver, Colo., Layton Day, owner of Bangor Wholesale Laminates in Bangor, Maine, Kellie Akins, aales & marketing manager of Innovative Surfaces in Minneapolis, Minn., and Joe Hoffman, Jr., owner of Hoffman Fixtures Company in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Okla., as well as Artisan Group executive director Chad Seiders to complete the board.

Halabi, originally from Jordan, attended San Francisco State and graduated from UC Berkeley. At the age of 23, after only a few years, Halabi became owner and President of Duracite. Halabi now has 24 years in the countertop fabrication business and has expanded Duracite to a network of nine locations throughout Northern California and Nevada. Duracite provides surfacing fabrication and installation to both commercial and residential clients, including design, manufacture and installation of granite, marble, soapstone, Heritage Wood, quartz and recycled products.

After studying business and accounting at Cleveland State University in 1979, Rocks began his entrepreneurial career with a small custom cabinet shop in Cleveland, Ohio that quickly grew into Wood Dimensions Inc. His vision to grow the business expanded with solid surface fabrication and a new corporate division called Solid Surfaces Plus was born. Rocks’ broad experience with solid surfaces grew into yet another company division for stone fabrication leading the company to form Rocksolid Stone Works. Rocksolid Stone Works and Solid Surfaces Plus now offer one of the largest selections of stone and solid surfacing in Northern Ohio.

The original woodwork shop, Wood Dimensions Inc., is also one of Northern Ohio’s premier fabricators of custom cabinetry, woodwork, millwork and casework for large-scale commercial projects and residential homes. The company’s three divisions have earned multiple awards for craftsmanship.